


Distractions

by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Beholding Avatar Powers (The Magnus Archives), Kissing, M/M, The Magnus Archives Season 3, and their ability to be distracted, just bastard husbands being bastards to each other, mild spoilers for ep 159/160, poor unfortunate Jon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29619075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F117_Nighthawk/pseuds/F-117%20Nighthawk
Summary: Peter doesn't quite manage to surprise his ex-husband in his office.Jon,however, is quite capable of surprising Elias, and can't quite tell if walking in was a blessing or a curse.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39





	Distractions

**Author's Note:**

> You know I really don't know why I've latched onto Elias so much? He's a manipulative bastard who doesn't deserve his pretty name (I'm actually stealing his name. Mine now. Creepy Watchers don't get it.) but I absolutely love to hate him. Also: the concept of Peter/Jonah!Elias on a constant cycle of love-hate relationship ('Peter, I want Another Divorce') is _fucking hilarious_ so I uh. Got invested. Here we are?

Elias sighs as he feels more than hears the quiet crackle in the corner of his office. There’s only one Lukas who bothers to, well,  _ bother _ him within the Institute. Nathaniel had muttered something once about feeling much too  _ seen _ within its walls and then proceed to not even show up to the Institute’s donor balls ever again _. _ No, Nathaniel had sent his cousin in his stead, knowing  _ exactly _ who that cousin was to the late James Wright, who he was to  _ Jonah Magnus. _

“Yes, Peter?” he says without looking up from the spreadsheet open on his computer. 

“You know, it’s no fun when I don’t get to scare anyone.”

Elias hums and colors the top row on the sheet blue. “I thought you’d know better by now than to try. Especially here.”

“I keep hoping to catch you unawares.”

Elias lets the subtle eye on the back of his office door blink at Peter. Peter huffs, the point made, and leans over his shoulder. “What are you even doing?”

“Budget reports,” he drawls, clicking save because he knows that whatever Peter is here for, he’d best make sure he has a decent file to revert back to. “I’m sure you’ll be seeing this one in a week or so.”

“Oh, no, I don’t read them. I just pass them on to Nathaniel.”

“Of course. You don’t even bother to look at the cheesy love notes I attach to them, do you.”

Peter looks like he’s attempting to squint at him. “Have you ever actually put a love note on them?”

“No.”

(The actual answer is yes, but not since he was still going by Jonah to the world at large. At least Nathaniel had been amused.)

“Pity. I might read them then.”

“Keep them to read during lonely nights on the  _ Tundra?” _

“You know me so well, Elias.”

“Perhaps I will this time then. I imagine the Lonely would appreciate the sheer despair of budgets.”

Peter sighs wistfully. Elias finally spares him a glance with his own eyes. “Why are you here?”

“What, I couldn’t just come see my favorite Watcher?”

“We both know that’s not why you’re here.”

“Are you so sure?”

Elias growls because Peter  _ knows _ that he can’t just Know that, not from him. “Why, Peter.”

“In truth, I do miss you. It’s so much sweeter when you leave if you have something to miss.”

“I wouldn’t call it sweet.”

Peter grins at him. “Aw, is someone missing me?”

“We’re  _ divorced _ right now.”

“You miss me.”

“I do not miss  _ anything.” _

“You never miss  _ seeing _ me, yes, but my presence is another matter.”

“I miss the  _ peace and quiet _ of  _ my  _ office.”

Peter’s smug grin is  _ very _ audible. “Well, in that case, I’ll leave you to it--”

_ “Don’t you dare,” _ he hisses, and grabs Peter by the collar to pull him into a bruising kiss. If he were of the romantic type, he would call it completing, soothing, any number of words that ran through the back of his mind almost constantly when he Watched poor Martin pine after his Archivist. He’s not the romantic type, but.  _ But. _ It is, almost, precisely what he was mi--

“Elias, do you happen--uh.”

* * *

Jon sighs and taps his fingers on the desk as Rosie shrugs. “His intercom must not be working. Happens sometimes; I’ll call maintenance to fix it once he’s out.”

“Yes, well, thank you, Rosie. Is he busy?”

“Mr. Bouchard doesn’t have anything scheduled explicitly for the rest of the day. I suppose it’s possible he left for the weekend, but normally he tells me when he does that…”

“Well, perhaps he’s just caught up in his work. I’ll see myself in, thank you.”

Rosie nods and gestures him past to Elias’s door. It’s a simple door, the only thing apart from the nameplate reading  _ Elias Bouchard _ in a gold script that signifies it belongs to the most powerful man in the building being the oddly Victorian handle. It’s an antique, possibly having been there since the Institute was first created.

The important thing is that it’s not locked. Jon isn’t quite sure how he Knows this, why the Eye seems to think  _ that _ is a fact that he has to be very aware of, or why it is practically  _ begging _ him to open the door. He sighs, sending a silent thought towards the nearest painting’s eyes that yes, fine, he is opening the damn door, and knocks. It doesn’t garner a response, which is odd, but even odder is the fact that he  _ got as far as  _ knocking. Usually, Elias is calling to him the moment he raises his hand. The feeling in the back of his head is growing more and more insistent that he  _ needs to know what is going on behind that door. _

“Elias?” he calls, turning the knob and pushing the door open, “Do you happen--uh.”

Jon stares, dumbstruck, at the scene before him. A man he doesn’t recognize but Knows is a Lukas is standing over Elias, who is sitting in his chair with one hand tangled in the Lukas’s collar, and they’re. Well. They’re kissing in what can only be described as a very…  _ passionate _ manner.

Elias’s eyes snap open at Jon’s words, and an emotion that might be classified as panic on anyone else flits across his face before he pulls himself away. He outright glares at the Lukas before turning the glare on Jon. “You’re supposed to knock.”

“I--well, I did, but you didn’t answer, and you’ve been telling me to follow what the Beholding wants me to do, so--so I did.”

One of Elias’s eyebrows slowly rises at the explanation before his eyes narrow, and he turns back to the Lukas, who is chuckling.  _ “That’s _ what you wanted, isn’t it? To try and  _ distract _ me.”

“Merely a happy accident, my dear.”

Elias growls; Jon swears several static-covered eyes appear over his face and floating around him for a moment. “Fine,” he spits, before his voice becomes sickly sweet, “in that case, why don’t you take this opportunity to meet our Head Archivist? You haven’t been around since Gertrude died,  _ my dear.” _

The Lukas considers this for a moment. “Very well. You must be Jonathan Sims.”

Jon takes the proffered hand. It’s cold and slightly clammy. “Peter Lukas.”

Peter raises an eyebrow and looks back at Elias. “You didn’t tell me he was that far along.”

“You’re not as hard to read as you think, Peter.”

“So you just pretend to struggle to read me? Or perhaps I’m just too distracting.”

The static eyes are  _ definitely _ covering Elias’s face now.  _ “Peter.” _

“Yes, yes, I’m sure your Archivist has pressing business that you must attend to.” Peter waves off Jon’s attempt to say that he does not remember in the  _ slightest _ why he came in here anymore and will just see himself out. “I’ll see you back at your flat. Perhaps I’ll have dinner ready.” He places a kiss on Elias’s temple and vanishes into thin air.

Elias looks positively  _ murderous, _ which Jon doesn’t think bodes well for him  _ or _ Peter Lukas. “You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

“No. I’d be feeding  _ his _ god. And before you ask no, I’m not going to kill you either. But if you breathe a  _ word _ of what you just witnessed to  _ anyone, _ I will make your dreams even worse than they are. Now, what did you need?”

“To be honest, I’ve quite forgotten.” 

Elias sighs and reaches down to slide some stray papers into his briefcase. “Very well. Tell me if you happen to remember, although, at this point, I sincerely doubt it mattered anyway. Have a good weekend, Jon.”

Despite the risk he knows is inherent in pissing off a double murderer, Jon cannot resist a comment. “Have a good date.” He gets out of it with another death glare from Elias and some very,  _ very _ important knowledge:

The Watcher can be  _ distracted. _


End file.
